How to Grow Jalapeno Plants Indoors

By D.C. Winston ; Updated September 21, 2017

Jalapeno peppers are delicious and culinarily versatile vegetables that can add savory flavor and heat to a wide variety of dishes. Growing Jalapenos indoors, as with growing any produce indoors, can be done if the correct light and temperature conditions can be created consistently. Jalapeno peppers require between 13 and 16-hours of natural or artificial light and a temperature of around 80-degrees Fahrenheit during the daylight and between 60 and 70-degrees Fahrenheit during the night or unlit interval. Setting up a growing operation for a jalapeno plant or two can seem like an excess of effort, but once established, other produce and plants may benefit from the growing environment providing fresh edible and decorative plants year round. Under the right conditions, jalapeno pepper seeds should develop into mature plants in 12 to 24 weeks and begin producing peppers soon thereafter.

Choose a growing location that has an electrical power supply, space for an adjustable hanging light rig, and good ventilation and temperature controls. Hang the lighting rig to be adjustable between 6-inches and 3-feet above the growing surface of the jalapeno plants. Set a fan near the grow table to keep air from becoming stagnant and allowing molds or fungi to grow.

Plant your jalapeno seeds or seedlings into rich soil in pots or trays of your choosing. Water until thoroughly moist but not wet. Place the plants on the work table under the grow lights with the light rig poised 2 to 4 inches above the tops of the plant seedlings (or soil surface if planting seeds).

Adjust the light rig upward as the plants grow in order to maintain at least a few inches of clearance between the lights and plants. Keep the lights within 3 feet of mature plants.

Maintain the moisture level in grow room at about 50 percent, which can be augmented by misting water periodically. In very dry climates, using a humidifier. Water the soil when it feels dry to the touch when a finger inserted an inch into the soil.

Things You Will Need

Hanging height adjustable fluorescent light assembly

Planting pots or seedling trays

Soil

Jalapeno pepper seeds

Water

Mist bottle or humidifier if needed

Small electric fan

Table or workbench

Temperature controlled location

Automatic light timer

Tip

Use only fluorescent bulbs or light tubes, as these provide the cool or blue spectrum light waves that are more conducive to growth for your peppers. Incandescent light bulbs, produce a warmer light that is weaker in wavelength which means your pepper plants will strain for enough light, become leggy and not develop into sturdy plants.